


The crisp smell of cinnamon, the sharp tang of ice

by G8rguy



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Slow Build
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-10
Updated: 2016-10-12
Packaged: 2018-08-07 20:24:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 15,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7728574
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/G8rguy/pseuds/G8rguy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>My take on the Soulmate AU.  First chapters will set the science/theory behind in through storytelling as we get information about our favorite hockey team as they finally come together.  Eric Bittle learns of soulmates from his Moomaw and secretly yearns to find his while for Jack Zimmermann dealing with the pressure of his family name isn't looking for a soulmate, not after he thought he found it in a certain blonde hockey player.  Along the way to Samwell, both of them meet others who help them see that soulmates are not exactly what they thought they were when they were growing up.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Story Time

Eric was sitting on the ground playing with Emily and Peter, his youngest cousins, during the annual Bittle Family Fourth of July picnic when his cousin Charlotte came over to join them. Charlotte had turned 11 a full month before Eric and loved reminding him that she was older, even by that little amount. The truth was that Eric loved Charlotte a lot and not just because they were smack dab in the middle of the cousins from his daddy’s side of the family. There was Jasper, he was the oldest at 13, Savannah was 12, then Charlotte and Eric at 11, Jacob was 10, and the twins, Peter and Emily, were 8. Moomaw’s grandkids were all close in age, but Eric was the only one with no siblings. Jasper and Charlotte’s daddy was his Uncle Roy, coach’s oldest brother. Savannah and Jacob mommy was his Aunt Renee, who was coach’s sister and the twins mama was Aunt Betty, Coach’s youngest sister.

They all got along fairly well even though Jasper and Jacob, and even Peter to some extent, were much more interested in sports than Eric was. Savannah was starting to talk about boys and boyfriends, much to Charlotte’s supreme disappointment, so it was typically Eric and Charlotte who spent time together and they usually included the twins if they wanted to play with them.

“Eric?” he looked up and saw his mama coming over and he smiled. She looked at the four of them and clapped her hands. “Moomaw is here and wants to see her grandkids” she said happily as all four yelled and dashed for the house. Eric had been waiting for his Moomaw for a while now even though he knew she was coming a bit late.

Bursting through the door he screamed when he saw her on the couch and was quickly pulled into the warm hug that smelled of lavender and jasmine. Moomaw hugged all four of them and then Eric saw Savannah and Jasper come in for their hugs.

“Oh it is good to see all of you together” she said smiling and ordering them to sit down. Eric’s mama came in with some iced tea for her and everyone was sitting around as they started to update her on all the new information.

“Oh, you won’t believe this but you know Angela’s eldest boy Byron?” Mama said with a smile. Eric knew that Aunt Angela was his mama’s brother’s wife, so Bryon was also his cousin, but Byron was 21 so Byron didn’t really hang out with the younger cousins when they got together. “He found his soulmate at UGA this spring. Walked into his economics class in January and took one look at a girl in the room and bang, they connected and have been together ever since.” She chuckled but Eric wasn’t sure why.

“Since January? Why didn’t we hear about this before now?” Moomaw asked curiously.

“Turns out he didn’t tell his parents till he came home. She came for a visit with her family for Memorial Day and they shared the news. Now Angela is all excited about planning a wedding” she chuckled again.

“Suzanne” Moomaw’s voice was teasing but there was a bit of an edge. “What are you not telling?”

His mama laughed. “Well, it turns out that this wonderful young lady is not only not from Georgia, she is actually from New York” she laughs at the surprised laughter from the adults in the room. “And…she is pre-med. Going to be a doctor” Suzanne chuckles.

Moomaw manages to hold in her chuckles but Aunt Renee didn’t. She was laughing loudly. “Oh lord. Byron, bless his heart, barely got in to UGA and that was due to his athletic sholarship and this girl is pre-med? Oh I am sure that Angela just loves that…and is a Yankee to boot!” 

They are all chuckling when Emily suddenly pipes up. “What’s a soulmate?”

Everyone looks at her in surprise but Moomaw smiles. “Well child, a soulmate is the person who you are supposed to be with. That person, who in all the world, is best for you.”

Emily frowns in confusion. Eric didn’t want to admit that the whole soulmate thing was confusing for him as well. He and Charlotte talked about it but she didn’t know much more. He had heard stories about soulmates, but he still didn’t understand how it all worked.

“How does that work?” Peter asked looking just as confused.

“Well,” Moomaw said sitting back in her chair. “That is a long story, but I remember when it happened you know.”

“Will you tell us Moomaw?” Savannah asked, her eyes dancing with excitement. She loved talking about soulmates Eric remembered.

Moomaw smiled and nodded. Everyone got comfortable, even Jasper and Jacob, along with his mama and aunts.

“It was the summer of 1945” she began. “America and her allies had just won the second World War a few months before and the whole country was celebrating. I was 10 years old and was playing outside with my sister and brothers when a siren went off. It was the tornado siren but the sky was clear, not a cloud to be seen, but we ran home anyway. We got home to find that scientists had discovered an asteroid, that’s a giant rock in space, was heading right towards Earth and was expected to hit somewhere any minute.”

“Now scientists back then were pretty rough. We didn’t have any satellites or shuttles or any of that stuff. We didn’t go to the moon for almost 25 more years, so no one really knew what to expect. They weren't sure exactly where it would hit, but they were telling people everywhere to get under cover. Now we had a storm cellar in our house so my daddy was getting everyone to head there when we saw it. It was like a rocket or something shooting across the sky all blazing. It shot over us and headed west and not two minutes later there was a flash in the sky. Now I wasn’t counting, but it was several moments before we heard it. That thing exploded and the whole ground shook and there was a huge blast of wind, ripped mama’s favorite dogwood tree right out of the ground” she said looking at each of her grandkids rapt faces.

“Where did it hit?” Jasper asked with a tremble in his voice.

“It didn’t” she said smiling at him. “We were told that while some asteroids are all rock and tough and create craters when they land, this one wasn’t. It blew up when it hit the atmosphere. Now personally, I believe, and so do many others, that the good Lord was watching out for his children that day and stopped that thing.” She smiled at the nods they all gave her as well as their baited attention.

“But that wasn’t all. Over the next few days, there was a sparkly rain coming down everywhere. I mean everywhere. Little pieces of lights, like fireflies, but with every color of the rainbow. These lights just fell down on everything and everyone. They went right through walls and doors and floors, I remember sitting in my bed and my room was filled with nearly a dozen that fell through the roof and went straight down through the floor. Now unlike fireflies, you couldn’t catch them, they just disappeared, but it wasn’t long after that it started happening” she said with a big smile.

“What?” Emily asked breathlessly.

“People started to find their soulmates. Now finding your soulmate isn’t a simple thing. Some people, like your cousin Byron, they meet their soulmate and it’s like being struck by lightning. You look at them and you know” she says bringing her hands together in a loud clap. “Soulmates can feel each other, they know what each other are feeling, whether happy or sad or angry or scared. Soulmates also can share their senses. Sometimes just one sense, sometimes all five. When I met your grandpa, it was like that. I saw him when I was 15 and it was like I was blown away. And from that moment on…I could hear music whenever he listened to something and at night, if I was really quiet, I could see flashes of things he had seen. Your grandpa however, he could smell what I smelled. Said it drove him wild whenever I was cooking” she laughed and Eric saw his Mama and Aunt Renee both tearing up. Grandpa had died three years ago so Eric didn’t really remember him well but he knew his mama missed her daddy.

“So, this was happening everywhere in the world and many very smart people were trying to figure it out, but it was actually a group of very smart churchmen who called it the soulbond. They said that the asteroid allowed people to find the person that God had meant for them to be with. And what’s more? Kids born to soulmates were usually gifted. They were smart, beautiful, and talented either in art or music or athletics or in some other way. Well that, along with all the other things people learned, led a whole lot of people to feel as we do that the ability to find your soulmate was divinely given” she said with a satisfied smile.

“In fact” she says with a smirk “it changed a whole lot of things.” She looked at her grandkids and though she knew it would be hard, she continued. “There was even a time when people were prejudiced against boys who like boys and girls who like girls. Didn’t think that it was right and even said it was criminal to love someone who wasn’t the opposite sex.”

Jasper and Savannah both looked confused. “You might like Mrs. Johnson and her wife?” Mrs. Johnson was the principal at the local elementary school and had pretty much been loved by all the kids. Her wife was a local attorney and both Jasper and Savannah were friends with their kids.

“Exactly. When I was a little girl, they would have been kept from jobs, housing, and even being parents” she said sadly.

“What happened?” Eric asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

Moomaw looked over at him and smiled. “Well those very same smart people realized that the soulbond wasn't just limited to boy and girl couples. No it wasn't. In fact there were boy-boy couples and girl-girl couples who were soulmates just like the boy-girl couples. It took awhile, but those leaders helped changed people’s minds. If God put them together then it must be meant to be. In fact, it was in 1967, the same year Renee was born actually, that the US declared that any couple could marry. In fact that event changed a lot of those rules. Once upon a time there were even laws saying people couldn’t marry if they had different skin color” she told them.

Savannah shook her head. “That’s crazy. Your soulmate can be anyone” she declared loudly.

“That is true” Moomaw agreed. “In fact there are laws to protect soulbonded pairs to make sure of that. So it doesn’t matter if your soulmate is a boy or a girl, in fact there have even been a few cases where three people have all been soulmates. The law protects those families because they are especially precious” she tells them seriously.

“Does everyone have a soulmate?” Charlotte asks shyly.

Moomaw leans back and takes a deep breath. “We don’t actually know that Charlotte. Not all soulmates find each other. You don’t know where your soulmate is and it’s only when you actually meet them that the connection forms. Lots of people marry someone they love who isn’t their soulmate. Sometimes people don’t find their soulmates till they are much older.” She looks over at Suzanne with a questioning look. “Suzanne. Didn’t you say that they found a really young pair?” she asks.

Suzanne Bittle nods. “Yes ma’am. It was in France. Two six year olds found each other. Caused quite a stir. I think the youngest before that were 14.”

“Six?” Renee asks nervously. “That’s so young.”

“There’s a reason for it” Moomaw says with conviction. “Soulmates find each other when they are supposed to. I found Charles and it was instant but my friend Esther? She knew her soulmate for three years before they figured it out” she snorted at the thought.

“Why didn’t she know?” Emily asks.

“No one knows exactly dear” Moomaw answers. “Some people believe that if you are not ready, for whatever reason, you won’t recognize them but the bond is still formed, but it is almost hidden. For some it’s instantaneous but for others it’s gradual. God has a plan” she says without doubt. “And I am sure that all y’all will find your soulmates when you are supposed to.”

“Savannah’s soulmate is probably Dwight Johnson” Jasper says with a snicker and then he jumps up and runs as Savannah screams and chases after him. 

The adults all laugh and at that point Coach yells that the food is ready. Eric stands up and helps as everyone moves to the back yard. His Moomaw hugs him gently. “Don’t worry baby boy, your soulmate is going to be wonderful.”

Eric smiles back happily and nods. “I know he will!” He runs ahead and Moomaw looks back at Suzanne smiling after her son and nods. She is so glad that things are better for boys like Eric. She can’t imagine what his life would be like if he grew up in the world as it used to be.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _I have been batting around the idea of a soulmate AU, but I could never really get into it (though I do like reading them!) enough to write it. I decided that in order to do so (1) I needed to have a reason for it. How did it happen that people can find soulmates. I know there is magic and just pretending it's always been there, but I felt if it had always existed, so much of history would be changed. So I wanted it to be something recent enough to still remember a time before it but far enough back that people had embraced it._
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> _(2) I wanted to explore, even a little, on what effect this would have on society. So in this story we see that the effect moved marriage equality up A LOT, but it still took 22 years to happen. I also liked the idea that it helped move things faster than in real life. In 1967 Loving v. Virginia was the US Supreme Court Case that struck down laws that forbid inter-racial marriages so I marriage equality happened that to honor that piece of history. The rest was imagining how different things would be if people didn't have those prejudices anymore._
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> _Hope you like it! Up Next: Jack growing up, anxiety, Kent, and being a 3rd_


	2. Jack's Story

Jack sat down on the bench after scoring his goal and took a deep breath. This was his first year in Bantam Division and while Jack definitely noticed the improvement in the skills of others, he knew that he was better than just about everyone else so far. His coach in Peewee division had even suggested that Jack would probably see scouts from the Major junior draft there and he did see them though they weren’t talking to him yet. Jack loved playing hockey, but it was never easy for him. He had been skating for as long as he could remember but it seemed that it was getting harder and harder to deal with all the pressure and attention. Jack knew that people watched him because of his dad and were constantly comparing them. His papa had played hockey professionally he knew, he had seen pictures and videos of his papa playing, and he knew from all of his ‘uncles’ that his papa was still important to hockey even without playing.

He was also aware that his maman was famous too. She was so beautiful Jack knew. Everyone told him so, with many of the other boys talking about her movies, and he knew that his papa was handsome which had been especially hard for him to deal with as he grew up because he definitely was not. He always thought he looked funny and he had heard people talking about him on TV and in magazines. He remembered seeing an old magazine that had asked what had happened with theories ranging from adoption to plastic surgery which had really bothered him though he never said anything. 

With Jack’s first growth spurt, and all of his playing, Jack had shed a lot of his ‘baby weight’ and he was shocked one day when someone commented about how much he looked like his dad. 

And if being the son of his parents wasn’t easy because of how famous they were, add that to the burden of being a child of soulmates made it even harder. Jack sometimes wished that he was somebody plain, it would be so much easier. He remembers when he learned about soulmates in school and came home and asked his maman about it. She told him that yes, her and papa were soulmates, but what was even more surprising? Grandpa Jacques and Grandma Madeline, his papa’s parents, were soulmates as were Grandpa Jack and Grandma Angelica, his maman’s parents.

He heard how children of soulmates were supposed to be especially gifted somehow and he believed it knowing how people talked about his maman and papa, but he never felt that way about himself. He even remembers watching the TV and seeing someone talking about him last year, just after his 12th birthday. It turns out that Jack was one of a very few people who were “third gen children”. Those children whose parents were soulmates as well as both sets of grandparents who also were soulmates. As he got older, he heard about it happening more often, but Jack was one of the first hundred and people were always wondering about his gifts. 

They expected him to be better at hockey than his father and to look better than both his parents and he wasn’t and he didn’t. Somedays he wanted to quit hockey entirely, but when he stepped on the ice the whole world disappeared. It was the only thing that made all the noise go away and allowed him to just be…Jack. Jack wasn’t special. No he just wanted to play hockey like his dad and he worked hard at trying to make that happen. 

He was used to people only liking him because of his parents or because he was a “3rd”, but Jack had learned that people were not interested in him, just what he could do for them so instead he learned to keep people out. Instead, hockey was all that mattered to him. On the ice, things were clear and easy and nothing else mattered but the puck, his stick, and the ice. He could forget all the rest. He didn’t need friends.

* * *

 

When Jack was 16, he met Kent Parson. Kent. Kenny. Parse. Kent was everything Jack wasn’t. He was outgoing, friendly, outrageous, talented, and confident. His parents were not soulmates and in fact had divorced when he was only four. His mother had then found her soulmate and that was how Kent had a sister whom he adored. He also discovered that he liked his stepfather a whole lot more than his real father, mostly because he knew how happy he made his mother.

Kent didn’t care about Jack being a 3rd. He had even told Jack he wasn’t sure if soulmates were really real, but he did like his stepdad. He told Jack he would prefer not to have a soulmate because it sounded like too much to deal with. He preferred to have fun instead. Jack’s stomach went crazy the first time Kenny flashed him that smart ass smile.

Jack found himself being drawn more and more into Kent’s life and it started showing in their hockey. They became an amazing pair on the ice, their gifts and skills combining to give them a competency on the ice that blew others away. Kenny was put in at Jack’s right wing, Jack was center, and they were magic. They were credited with creating the ‘patented Parse-Zimmermann no-look pass’ because they were so in sync. They were blowing through records and dominating in hockey and Jack had even heard people speculating that he and Kent must be soulmates because they were so in sync. Jack wondered about that a lot though he never mentioned it to Kenny.

He had even asked his parents about it and they told had him that if Kent was his soulmate he would know, sooner or later. Jack knew that for his parents, their bond formed in an instant and both his grandparents were already married to each other when they discovered they were soulmates, but there were those that took a while so Jack waited. He was constantly trying to see if he could feel things or sense things but he never did.

Jack did remember the first time he and Kenny finally crossed the line between friends and lovers. They had been drinking and, as usual, it quickly became a contest between them about their performance on the ice when Kent suddenly knocked him over and they started wrestling. They rolled around a bit before suddenly Jack was on his back with Kenny pinning him down. Jack looked up and saw Kenny staring at him, breathing heavily, when all of a sudden Jack felt Kenny’s mouth smashed into his, his hands moving hungrily under Jack’s shirt and Jack was kissing back just as fiercely. It was over way too quickly and it was way too messy, but Kenny smiled afterwards and told him how long he had wanted to do that which made Jack happy.

After that night, it seemed their relationship grew and grew. Their playing got better and their loving got more intense. It was never soft and easy with Kenny, but it was fierce. He loved like he played, with everything and all of his attention. Jack loved that when they were together, he could forget for a while about everyone else and what they expected of him. They were often as energetic in bed as they were on the ice even though Kenny was never interested in cuddling or just being together.

Jack had started taking his anxiety meds at 16 though he never told anyone, at least not until Kenny found him taking them a year later. At that point Jack confessed but told him that he didn’t take them all the time, just occasionally when he needed it. That wasn’t entirely true, but Kenny believed him. He then tried to help Jack find other ways to “relieve stress” that mostly involved a lot of nakedness and sweating which did help, just not the way Kenny thought it did.

It was the month before the draft when things started falling apart for Jack. He was taking his meds more often than ever as it seemed that all anyone was talking about was which of them would go first in the draft. Jack knew that everyone expected it to be him, hell they had been talking about it since he was 13! Now they were talking about Kent getting picked first and it was killing Jack. Kenny didn’t really care about it, or at least he said that to Jack. He wanted the recognition of being 1 and 2 in the draft, but that meant they would be separated which he didn’t really like, though he acted like it didn’t matter.

Jack’s world finally crashed three days before the draft. Jack, desperate to get himself under control, had gone to a party with Kent and drank way too much. They both got smashed and ended up back at Jack’s hotel where the sex was desperate and frantic, but not good. No, Jack was trying to get back to when they were 16 and being together was good but he couldn’t. Kent left for an interview the next morning and Jack, who had his own press to deal with, tried to self-medicate himself into control. But when one pill didn’t work, he kept taking them. At some point he tried a shot of alcohol to help his nerves, or so he vaguely remembered thinking. Eventually he had mixed 15 pills with the alcohol and had passed out in the bathroom where Kenny found him.

The next two days were a blur of emotions and doctors for Jack, but at the end his parents had pulled him out of everything and taken him home to Montreal. Kent, he had been drafted by the Las Vegas Aces as the number one draft pick. So the boy he had hoped would be his soulmate went to the glittering city in the desert while Jack went to rehab and therapy.

It took him awhile, but Jack got better, bit by bit. He coached peewee hockey, met with a therapist, and got new meds. His parents told him over and over how much they loved him and were not disappointed, but he knew he had struggled to believe them. He should have been better. But things never got better with Kent. Kent tried. He called, texted, and even tried to visit but Jack wasn’t in any condition to face him and his parents were an impenetrable wall. He knew they liked Kent, he knew his papa was impressed by how good he was on the ice, but they also knew the full story of their relationship.

Jack had broken down and told them everything. The drinking, the meds, and how Kent made him feel. How he tried so hard to make Kent his soulmate because he thought they were supposed to be together. But what they had was broken. He was broken. And Kent was part of him breaking. He needed to be away from all of that and his parents helped make it happen. 

* * *

 

Going to Samwell was the first time Jack took control back over his life since his overdose. He had gone along with everything his parents wanted up till then but when he walked in and told them he wanted to go to college, and Samwell in particular, he surprised them. His mother loved the idea as it was her alma mater and she was ready to call the school that second. His dad, though hesitant, agreed and that led to the discussion about playing hockey. Jack wanted to play at Samwell, they had a team, if they would have him.

Bob had asked about other schools, those with stronger programs, but Jack was determined. He had done his research and liked what he saw. It was a small school, but a really good one. It was well known as one of the most liberal and open campuses, ‘one in four, maybe more’ had become their motto based not only on the number of soulmates that met there, but the diversity of student sexual and gender identities. Jack wasn’t looking for anything other than a place to play hockey, but he liked the idea of being able to maybe blend in to the crowd.

Jack never found out that his father had called Coach Hall and Murray about him coming to play, but Bob rationalized that omission by the simple fact that all he had to do was mention Jack’s wish to play for them to get him a spot on the team. Bob assured them he did not need a scholarship, which they tried to offer, but he was adamant. If Jack wanted to go to Samwell, he was going to go there whether he played or not. 

Jack never asked about it to be honest, but then again money never really mattered much to Jack. It was easy because he knew his parents had it. Both of them had been very successful in their careers before they “retired” and were still active. His father had invested wisely and was very diversified but spent most of his time working with his foundation that now included working with young people.

His maman had acted and modeled and while she did an occasional part, she spent more time working with charities and as a goodwill ambassador for the UN working with children around the world. She had also appeared as a guest judge on a number of TV shows Jack didn’t really watch with some of her model friends.

Then there was his grandparents. While his papa’s family were not rich or famous, they had left Jack some money when they died and his maman’s family did have money. They had created a trust fund for him that was extremely generous. So if Jack was being honest, he was already financially independent and could do whatever he wanted. He wasn’t a Vanderbilt or anything, but he could do what he wanted and he wanted to go to college right now.

Coming to the campus was good for Jack. He arrived early and moved into a single room in the dorms that he got based partly on his age, though he guessed that his parents might also have helped with him getting it. Normally he would have objected to them using their connections, but this time he was okay with it. He had shared rooms before when he lived with Billet families, but he didn’t want to do that anymore. Unfortunately for Jack, one of his new teammates didn’t get the hint.

Jack had said goodbye to his parents and was setting up his room when this loud, brash guy barged in, talking incessantly. Jack was stunned as he wandered around his room, checking things out and talking about parties. The guy had a rather pitiful mustache and his hair was just a bit longer than Jacks which he had been growing out for the last year.

He finally stopped looking around the room and turned towards Jack and froze. “Fucking hell! You’re Jack Zimmermann!” he yelled with a smile. 

Jack didn’t get to respond before he was being pulled into a giant hug. 

“Bro! This is so cool. I get to play hockey with Jack Zimmermann!” he laughed. 

“You are on the hockey team?” Jack stammered in surprise.

“Yeah man. I played at Andover for four years” he says happily. “I mean not at your level or anything, but not too fucking shabby if I do say so myself” he snorts and plops down on Jack’s bed.

“Who are you?” Jack asks with a slight twinge of anxiety.

For the first time the guy in front of him isn’t smiling so easily. “Look Jackie, I don’t know if you know what it’s like to have a name you don’t like, but I can’t stand mine. It’s horrible. Family name from my stuck up family. You should have seen how mad my dad and his parents were when I said I was coming here instead of Harvard to study business. ‘Four generations of Knight men have attended Harvard’, ‘Disappointment to the family’ they told me” he snorts and Jack tries not to smile at what he assumes is a rather exaggerated New England accent. “I figured my dad’s fraud indictment might have been a bigger disappointment but hey, he only got in trouble with other people’s money, so I guess it’s not a ‘real crime’, so going to Samwell didn’t seem so bad, but I guess that’s just me” he smirks.

Jack feels like he has whiplash. This guy, whose name he still doesn’t know beyond something Knight, bounces from subject to subject like a ping pong ball. Now he is talking about his mom who is an English Professor and how his parents divorced when he was twelve.

“So they weren’t soulmates?” Jack asked surprised.

“Hah!” he laughs. “My grandparents don’t believe in soulmates, nor did my dad. He believes in marrying for prestige, position, or money. Mom believes in them, but said she didn’t really care because she thought she was in love. Luckily she divorced him before he crashed and burned” he snorts. “So nope, just regular parents I guess. You?”

“Uh, yeah. They are” Jack says and stops. Telling about his grandparents always weirds people out and if this guy doesn’t know then he won’t tell them. “I still don’t know your name” he says during a break in the guy’s monologue.

He frowns. “I was hoping you forgot that” he says shaking his head.

“Nope” Jack says with a smirk and crosses his arms.

The man looks at him and sighs deeply. “I will tell you Jacques, but only if you swear on your life to never, ever, ever tell another soul, not even your soulmate man!” 

Jack raises his eyebrows but he agrees. The man says it.

“That’s a shitty name” Jack blurts out before he can stop himself.

The guy just looks at him for a moment and then laughs. He laughs loud and long and Jack can tell it’s honest. After a moment Jack starts to join in and soon they are both laughing. “Brah!” he says wiping away a tear “that was the best. The most honest and truthful reaction I have ever heard. Most people either laugh or look at me with pity.”

“Well, you do deserve pity for that name but it wasn’t very polite” he admits shyly.

“Awww…my beautiful Canadian hockey bro is embarrassed?” he croons.

Jack flushes but also frowns. He has been hearing the comments about his looks for a while now. They really changed when he hit his last growth spurt and suddenly wasn’t the overweight kid who made people question his parents, now he looked a great deal like his papa with his maman’s eyes and cheekbones, he had even been gushed about by some media reports, but he never lost his anxiety about his looks. But this guy, his comments felt more genuine and honest without being even a little flirty. Well, maybe a little flirty? 

“Man if I was even a little less hetero, I would so make a move on you” he said with a wink causing Jack to choke and cough in surprise that set the guy off, laughing again. “Damn man, you are way too innocent for this world. I am going to have to dedicate myself to protecting you aren’t I?” he teases.

Jack just shakes his head. This guy reminds him a bit of Kent, but the good parts without all the baggage and seriousness. “So since I guess you don’t want me to call you by that name, what should I call you?” he asks with a tired expression.

The guy looks at him for a moment before getting a wicked grin. “Well…here’s where it gets funny” he says looking at Jack. “My cousin said the exact same thing about my name when I got to Andover. Before I met a single other student, honest man I mean before anyone, he walks up to me with his friends in tow and introduced me to them and he said ‘this is my cousin, his name is shitty’. They laughed and loved it and from that point on…everyone just called me Shitty. Honestly, if I had to choose between the two names, I actually kinda like that name better. Besides, it really made the teachers cringe!” he smirks.

“So everyone calls you Shitty?” Jack looks doubtful but Shitty pulls out his phone and opens his Facebook page and sure enough, that’s what’s on his page. Jack chuckles.

“Jacques Zimmermann…this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship. I know it!” he says going in for another hug.

Jack laughs. Coming to Samwell was the right choice after all.


	3. Eric's Story

Eric always remembered that Fourth of July whenever people talked about soulmates. His mama had told him that her parents were soulmates as well as his father’s, although they had both died before Eric was born so he had never met them. She had told him that he was special because both of his parents were born to soulmates just as he was and that he was a 3rd, something that had made people really interested in those kids at first and caused lots of talk and speculation. However almost no one knew that his mama’s parents were soulmates. They had been married before the Event and his mama, the youngest of her four siblings, had told him that only the close family members ever knew that about them.

He didn’t understand why it was a big deal at first, but he soon realized that people paid extra attention to those children and Eric did not need any more attention than he already got. Living in the South was both wonderful and terrible for Eric. Unfortunately he loved things that the other boys didn’t and they often didn’t approve of his choices and preferences. The boys often teased him that he was too girly and not tough or manly enough.

And the greatest sin in their eyes? Eric did not enjoy football. He could watch it, but he had lots of other favorite shows. He knew all about the game, the rules, strategies and players, his father was a coach after all, but he, personally, did not like it. It probably all went back to when he was put on a PeeWee football team that his father was coaching. Looking back, he thinks that is probably when he stopped calling his father ‘daddy’ and started calling him ‘coach’ like the other kids did. The first time he got tackled was not a good memory for Eric. He had been overwhelmed by fear and panic and although he wasn’t physically hurt, he definitely did not want to keep playing.

His mama was quick to pull him out and Coach, though he might have wished differently, did not press Eric to play anymore. Unfortunately he was still around all of Coach’s players who often came to the house for BBQs or parties or other events that he coordinated. Eric loved working in the kitchen and making food that people enjoyed eating. He baked his first pie, all by himself, when he was 9 years old, much to his mama and Moomaw’s delight.

He was also 9 the first time he got to go skating. He had watched figure skating on tv with his mama and his cousin Savannah one weekend and he was enthralled. Eric had begged to go to the rink and his mama had taken him along with several of the cousins and though it was his first time, Eric was proud to say he was the only one who didn’t fall down. He was a natural and was always begging to go so much that his mama had finally relented and signed him up for lessons. 

Eric loved skating. He loved the speed he got go and the feeling of flying it gave him. But under all of that, he felt a connection to the ice. Cooking was wonderful for him, it gave him feelings of home and contentment, but ice? Ice made him feel alive like riding a roller coaster. It was like the warmth of the kitchen was soothing and calming but the rink was exciting and made his heart race. 

Unfortunately the only thing worse for a southern boy than loving to bake pies and not liking football, was that same boy figure skating. Wearing leotards with sparkles wasn’t manly, not like wearing football tights! Okay, uniforms, but still they were almost as tight as Eric’s costumes. Oh, and let him suggest that the other boys were wearing costumes and they were furious.

No. Eric was not living up to the expectations of masculinity in his home town. And while he didn’t think of himself as being too small, it seemed that he was always behind the curve compared to the other boys. He got his growth spurt last and so he was always among the smallest in his class. Add that to the constant training he was doing and the iron fisted control of his eating to keep his figure for skating meant that Eric rarely had any excess body fat rendering him both small and skinny.

Things came to a head in ninth grade right after he won the Southern Junior Regional Champions. He had been so proud of doing that. He had seen others who he knew were so much better than he was, but he had talent and skill and his coach, Kayta, was willing to help him go farther, possibly even to the Olympics. The other boys didn’t approve however and after a confrontation at the school after class, Eric ended up locked in a supply closet overnight to “toughen him up” and “help him make better choices” in his life. 

His mother was heartbroken. One of the boys on Coach’s team, Mitch, had lied to them and told them Eric was staying over at his house so they wouldn’t look for him. However he had forgotten that his family was visiting relatives and they left before he could get back to the school or call anyone else. As a result when Eric’s mama called about him and found out from his older sister that Eric hadn’t been there, she went slightly crazy. 

Coach had gone to the school when the weekend janitor had called after finding Eric in the supply closet, eyes red from crying and his throat hoarse from crying for help all night long. Coach had immediately applied for other jobs, gaining the head coach in Madison and they moved that summer. Eric never knew what had happened though his cousin Charlotte had told him that Coach had showed up at Mitch's house and told his parents what their son had done. 

Mitch had tried to deny it but then confessed that they were only joking. His mother had quickly jumped to his defense, trying to argue that it was a harmless prank that had gotten out of hand. She had even tried to approach Eric and his mama in church the next weekend. They had walked up with her opening her mouth to speak when his mama cut her off. “Eric, go sit with your father” she said in a voice that could cut steel. 

Eric saw Mrs. Williams flinch at her tone and then she turned towards the woman and her son and in a voice that Eric was certain everyone in the Church heard told her “Mary, I am sure you understand that my son has been through a rather traumatic experience thanks to the cruelty of your son and his friends.”

Eric glanced to see Mitch’s mother pale and gasp at the poison in his mama’s words delivered with such a velvet tone.

“Please keep him far away from my son from now on, assuming you have any control over him” she said in a voice that rang with false sympathy. 

Eric heard several of the women at the church start whispering and Mrs. Williams beat a hasty retreat dragging Mitch after her. When church ended, Eric and Coach made a beeline to the car while his mother, head held high and eyes flashing, terrorized quite a few members of the congregation, especially the parents of Mitch’s minions who had helped him in his actions. Coach had reported all of them to the school’s administration who had tried to minimize their actions as ‘play’. Mama had not only pulled Eric out of school to home school him the rest of the year, neither her, Eric, nor Moomaw provided any baked goods for any events, picnics, or bake sales.

Eric thought that was pushing things but Moomaw had laughed when she heard how badly the Wednesday dinners were going at the Church after his mama and her had stopped providing pies. The preacher had even come by to beg them to resume, attempting to remind them of the value of forgiveness but Mama was adamant. She never baked another item for that church though his Moomaw did for some of her friends in town.

* * *

 

Moving to Madison meant even more changes for Eric. He was too far from Katya to keep training with her so he had to give up figure skating which wasn’t entirely bad because he didn’t want to be ‘that kid’ in his new school but he still loved skating. Coach suggested hockey, the school had a co-ed team that played in a no-contact league which was a great relief to his mama. And after his first practice with the team, he discovered a different kind of love for being on the ice. He was never going to be a ‘real’ southern boy since he didn’t play the ‘right’ sports, but it was better.

He also had Coach’s support in ways he didn’t even realize. Coach had quickly moved to cut off his players who used gender as a put down. The first time a player said someone ‘threw like a girl’ and they all laughed earned the team and extra 10 laps around the field in full gear. He then arranged for the girls soccer team to come to a practice and had them kick balls at his players and those girls could kick. The whole school laughed at how the football team was limping the next day.

While some people were upset with his spoiling the 'fun', Eric had noticed that girls in the school were much, much happier and more of them were getting into sports. His co-ed hockey team had two girls when Eric joined but a year later there were almost a dozen trying out. They went from barely having enough players to having lines and enough players to rotate and rest players during the game.

* * *

 

The other issue that Eric faced, the one he was defiantly opposed to giving an inch on, was his baking and cooking. While he preferred baking, and his specialty was pies, he was good in the kitchen with everything. He had been at his mama and Moomaw’s hip while they cooked for as long as he could remember. He could make a crème fraiche from memory, his meringues were flawless, and he could make a pie crust that would make grown women cry in his sleep. At 11 he entered his first county fair with a peach pie and earned second place. That was the last time he entered that he didn’t win first. At 13 he even won first place at the Georgia State Fair for his blackberry pie.

Baking was Eric’s haven, his escape from the expectations of others, the place where he could just be himself. The rink was where he could be, not himself, but rather something different but also a part of him. Both allowed him to escape into his own space, the place where he was happy and could laugh. His mama teased him that if he could ever figure out how to bake on skates he would be set for life.

* * *

 

At 17, his junior year, the first kid in his high school found their soulmate. Butch, the quarterback of the football team was a wild guy, the ultimate southern boy who loved beer, guns, and football, not necessarily in that order. He was popular, friendly, and to Eric’s continued surprise, a nice guy. But then Kelly transferred to the school. Her mother was a doctor at the hospital and she arrived with her sister. Kelly was everything Butch wasn’t. She was smart, scary smart. She read constantly and didn’t really socialize with people, though she was never mean. In fact she was really nice and her sister had joined Eric’s hockey team so he had gotten to talk with her before.

Eric wasn’t there when it happened, but at lunch one day she had decided to eat in the cafeteria with some friends instead of outside with her book and had walked into Butch. He dropped his tray and just gasped. It was like lightning! By the end of the day the whole school knew and they were inseparable. Eric laughed at how Barbie, Kelly’s sister, teased about how their mom had to lock the windows to keep them apart. They had actually gotten married two days after graduation, Eric had made the cake for the reception with his mama’s help.

* * *

 

At the start of senior year, Eric knew he needed to think about college. The truth was, he didn’t want to stay in Georgia. The people he knew, while they were good people for the most part, just didn’t seem to get him. He was tired of dealing with people who didn't get him and he just wanted to be somewhere where people didn’t care what sports you liked, or if you baked or hunted, or if you liked to sing and dance wildly. He wanted to be accepted for himself.

Eric had started his baking vlog at the start of his sophomore year and he had a mild following, but during the summer after his junior year he started talking about college and what he was looking for in a school. He was surprised one day when he got a message about picking a college from one of his subscribers who was always giving him encouraging, though a little strange, comments.

**Johns2014:** _Hey! Watched your video about looking for a college, you should check out Samwell University. Great school, there are classes about food, the environment is very accepting and open about people being who they are and best of all?...they have a hockey team! Definitely the place for your next chapter._

**GeorgiaBakes:** _Thanks for the tip! I just saw the pictures and the campus is beautiful. Is your mascot a well?_

**Johns2014:** _Yeah, but it’s cool. Check it out, the story wouldn't be the same without you._

Eric laughed when he opened link to a video of a dancing well. There were more messages with links to the hockey team playing, several campus events, and some really beautiful pictures. He really liked what he saw, except for the pictures with snow in them, because while they looked pretty, Eric was sure it would be freezing. He made a demo for the coaches and sent it off with not only his hockey experiences, but footage of a number of his figure skating routines. 

* * *

 

Eric was overjoyed when he got his acceptance letter from Samwell and shortly after the notice that he was being offered a scholarship with the Hockey team just made it that much better. With that scholarship, his college account, and a surprise gift from Moomaw, Eric could afford to go. His parents were surprised at his choice, they were hoping for something closer, but they were understanding. They knew it had been tough, they moved to Madison to help him, so they understood why he wanted something different.

Coach had school and practice so when it was time to drive the 16 hours, it was just Eric and his mama. He suggested that he just fly with a few bags but she wouldn’t hear of it. Said it would be an adventure and the two days it took them were bittersweet for Eric. He was excited and happy to be going, but he also realized that he probably wouldn’t see his family until the holidays. His mama said she was going to see about coming for family weekend, but it was still up in the air. There wasn’t really time to come home at Thanksgiving, especially as they had a game the Monday after so they had been warned that there was practice on the Friday after the holiday.

“It’s very beautiful” his mama said as they pulled onto Samwell’s campus. Eric nodded and hummed in agreement as he looked around. He liked the buildings and all the natural beauty, but what caught his eye was the number of different couples he saw. Boys with boys, girls with girls, a boy in a dress, a girl with short hair and very masculine clothes, and just about everything else. In fact when he checked in to his dorm, the RA was a guy that Eric could only describe as beautiful. He wore eyeliner that was about the best he had ever seen and a kilt or skirt, he wasn’t sure which because it didn’t quite look like it was made for a woman considering the pockets and buckles, but he wasn’t sure.

They made it to his room and quickly unpacked. His RA, a girl who looked like a model if he was being honest, came by his room to introduce herself and smiled at his mother. Eric was one of the few people moving in today because he was here early for athletics but there were a few others. She told him that two other hockey players were upstairs and a lacrosse player on the other side of the building. The football players were in another dorm.

She also directed them to the floor kitchen which excited Eric and his mother until they saw it. She muttered something about it not being too bad, but he knew she was as disappointed as he was. That didn’t stop her from taking him shopping for some additional supplies including a few cooking tools that they hadn’t brought.

Eric waved after his mother, after a rather tearful and emotional goodbye, as she drove back to Georgia the next day after breakfast. He was finally here, on his own, and out of Georgia and he felt like he could breathe. Smiling he went upstairs to get his supplies. He had the idea to make a pecan pie to take to the team meeting later today and he wanted to record a new update for his vlog. Samwell was going to be great!


	4. Meeting the Team, Pissing off the Captain

Eric hit ‘save’ on his most recent edition of his vlog with a shudder. He had started so happy to be here at Samwell, finally, and had even made a pecan pie to take to their first meeting and then the boys just tore into it. He supposed that on some level it was a compliment that they ate it so fast, but manners are important! He was still struggling with the whole thing. 

The coaches explained their schedule including how they had early morning practices, team breakfast in the dining hall was optional but encouraged, then classes and afternoon weight room. During the next two weeks before school, they would eat lunch and dinner together, but after school started things were much looser.

Ollie O'Meara and Pacer Wicks were two of the other Frogs who lived in Eric’s dorm. The other three guys lived in different buildings but they were nice he supposed. Most of today was just listening to the coaches and the Captain, who made Eric very nervous. He was so stern and unhappy looking, didn’t smile once the whole time. Their temporary manager, Davies, who was covering for the regular guy 'Lardo', talked about their equipment and how he would work with each of them regarding schedules, travel, and other needs. One of the seniors, Johnson, warned the six frogs that the older players would come up with nicknames for all of them and it could happen at any time, Eric was definitely nervous about that.

Tomorrow they would start with their first meeting, strategy and equipment, breakfast, on-ice training, lunch, weight training, break, dinner, and evening off. This was going to be their schedule for a while and Eric was already exhausted just thinking about it. Add that to the fact that he was the smallest guy on the team and Eric was overwhelmed. The two d-men, Ransom and Holster who he still wasn’t sure who was who, were HUGE! Tall and built like a brick wall. The blonde one, he towered over Eric and it would have made him really nervous but he acted more like a doofus than a jock. He made horrible puns and jokes that had Eric giggling which caused the captain to look at him several times.

* * *

 

The next morning they had their first skate and it was mostly just to warm up and get to know each other. Eric found out that he was definitely the fastest one on the ice to the delighted surprise of Shitty, Ransom, and Holster, though ‘Captain’ Jack seemed to be irritated by that fact. 

“Little brah!” Shitty said laughing after Eric had beaten them again on laps “you are like a blur on the ice! How’d you get so fast?” he asked throwing an arm around him.

“Just practice I guess” Eric replied weakly. He wasn't sure he was ready to tell them about his figure skating yet.

“Man, you got a lot of speed in a little package” the blonde, Holster?, said.

“Yeah, an itty bitty…” Ransom(?) said and suddenly went silent and looked at his d-man partner with intense joy.

“Bittle, itty Bitty?” Holster whispered in delight. 

“BITTY!” they both yelled surprising Eric. “That is so your nickname!”

Shitty and several others including the goalie all agreed and they were so excited about it that Eric didn’t have the heart to do anything other than smile. Seems like his nickname at Samwell is going to be Bitty.

* * *

 

After skating they all head to breakfast together for the first time. Eric tries to avoid drawing any attention to himself but Shitty comes over and starts talking to him, saying he was glad that Eric was a backwards southerner jerk or something and Eric just said thanks. He was a bit offended at Shitty's comments, but if he was being fair, he did know quite a few people back home who would have fit Shitty’s description. The rest of the team was happy and chatting about different things and Eric just enjoyed being there. He had gotten a Danish and bowl of cereal that he was enjoying until he spotted the captain glaring at him. Eric didn’t know why he would unless he was still upset that Eric was faster than him.

“Bittle” Jack grunts causing him to look up “you need to eat more protein.”

Eric’s jaw drops and he is stunned. Did he just?? Oh, hell no! Eric thinks but only just manages to keep from saying it out loud. Samwell was supposed to be the place he could be himself, not what other people thought he should be! Jack went back to eating his veggie omelet while everyone else seemed to ignore the comment. Bitty intentionally grabbed a donut to round off his meal as they left the cafe.

* * *

 

Things only got worse from there. Eric managed to get through several days of training before the coaches decided to go for a full game and that is where it all went wrong. Eric had loved playing hockey in high school, but it was a no-contact league that didn’t allow checking. Here, it was not only allowed, it was integral to the game. They were playing their first scrimmage when Eric finally couldn’t avoid it any longer and he lost it.

“Bittle, Heads up!” Jack yelled and Eric looked around and was terrified when he saw Holster heading right for him, shoulders down and aiming right for him. The next thing Eric is aware of is that he is lying curled up on the ice, the Coaches are asking if he is okay, Jack is groaning, and Ransom and Holster are arguing about how they could make it a play.

Eric is out for the rest of the practice and he tries to avoid Jack at all costs. Eric can feel how disappointed and angry Jack is with him and he just knows that Jack doesn’t think he belongs on the team but he needs this. He needs his scholarship to stay at Samwell and he has manage somehow. Eric knows he is fast and can avoid most other players with his spins, but he know knows that ultimately it probably won’t be enough.

* * *

 

While he continued to have issues with checking, the rest of training was going well enough that Eric started to feel that things were looking better for him. They finally had an afternoon off from training only to learn that all the frogs had a special commitment: it was time to visit the ‘Haus’! The Haus was the Samwell University Men’s Hockey Team house for their players, on frat row, right across from the LaCrosse House. Bitty wasn’t sure why the hockey team had a 'Haus' but others just had houses, but Shitty was very specific about that difference. The frogs had got invited to see the place and learn that all of the parties and events were usually held here, much to the willful ignorance of the coaches. Officially the houses were all privately owned and not part of the school, but in reality they were watched over by Samwell. 

Eric was surprised that only five players lived there when there were over 20 players on the team, but the part that Eric really cared about was that as a member of the team he could visit and the Haus had a kitchen! He had stepped away from the tour for a moment and looked into the kitchen and stared in horror. The place was filthy! It had been trashed and the leftover solo cups, empty chip bags, and pizza boxes covered every inch of counter space. They even had an entire cabinet devoted to Sriracha sauce!

Looking around Eric felt his fingers itching. He needed to bake! He opened the refrigerator and nearly gagged at what he saw. He was surprised however at the baskets of blueberries he saw in there that looked really good. He opened a few other cabinets and smiled. Pulling out the flour and sugar he set them next to the blueberries and butter from the fridge. Putting the washed berries on the stove with some sugar and a bit of rum, he mixed up a crust and used a vodka bottle as a rolling pin and then bent up one of the throwaway pans into the proper shape for a pie.

A few minutes later he was pouring the blueberry filling in the pie, adding the lattice on top, and popping it into an oven that Eric was sure had only seen pot brownies before this. Wiping his hands in satisfaction he looked over at the rest of the kitchen and frowned. He filled the sink with hot, soapy water and washed his dishes and the few others that he could find. He moved the empty keg to a corner of the counter and set the clean cups by it while emptying and trashing the used cups. He filled two trash bags with garbage that he put out by the back door and was scrubbing the counters of the much cleaner kitchen when his timer went off.

“It’s like my aunt’s house…but with more love and innocence” Eric heard a voice from the hallway say.

“Bro, I’ve been to your aunt’s house? And no offense, but compared to this it smells like a shithole!” a second voice answered the first.

Eric looks over and sees Ransom and Holster come in, loaded with beer, sodas, and snacks with looks of intense curiosity. Shitty and the rest of the frogs came into the kitchen right behind them and they all looked at him in shock.

“Oh…hey everyone” Eric says sheepishly holding his fresh baked pie. “Ha ha. Sometimes when I’m in kitchens, I just” he shrugs “pies just appear.”

“Wow…we’ve only been here for five minutes” Shitty mutters in disbelief but he is sniffing the air and has a look of hopeful disbelief on his face. They finish up the tour and then cut into Eric’s now cool pie, he demands that they actually slice it and so it goes much better than the 'Pecan Pie Massacre', but it is gone quickly with the five frogs and the three upperclassmen eating. Eric is very happy with the sounds of satisfaction and enjoyment coming from his teammates.

“Bitty! You have to make us more pie if you can do this with just the crap that you found in here” Holster declares. He, Ransom and Shitty all start arguing and making suggestions when Johnson comes in and grabs the last slice.

“How about we offer Bitty 24/7 access to the kitchen in exchange for baking for us?” he suggests after taking a bite. “Rans, you and Holtzy, you two could take him shopping for supplies” he adds.

Everyone agrees and Bitty laughs as the excitement of the boys. He agrees to go shopping with Ransom and Holster tomorrow and Shitty is still stunned about how clean the kitchen is now.

“So, would be okay if I adjusted the kitchen a bit to make baking easier? I mean I can also make cookies, brownies, and even full meals” he offers which gets them to agree without condition. Oh he is going to make some changes he thinks with a rush. He sets down with the boys to create his list and starts cleaning the cabinets. He finally has a real kitchen he can use!

* * *

 

Shitty walks upstairs with a slice of Bitty’s pie that he had saved for Jack and walks in to find his captain watching some documentary on his laptop. “Brah, you have got to try this pie Bitty made in our kitchen! It’s unbelievable” he swears.

“He made a blueberry pie?” Jack says with a raised eyebrow.

“How’d you know it was blueberry?” Shitty asks with a chuckle.

“Been smelling it for a while now. Fresh pie is not a normal smell in the Haus” Jack snorts. He takes the slice and with the first bite the flavors wash over his tongue. The tartness of the berries are tempered with sweetness and something else, rum maybe? The crust is flakey and buttery but it’s not the best he’s ever had but considering that Bittle made it in their wreck of a kitchen surprises Jack significantly. “It’s good” he admits to Shitty. “But he needs to focus on hockey” he grunts and puts his headphones back in.

Shitty slips out without mentioning that Bitty was given a key to the Haus with a promise to bake more, not less. He snorted at how he imagined Jack was going to react to that. He was always trying to get them to eat healthier but they boys were college athletes and pizza, bagel bites, ramen, and tacos were gourmet food along with the beer. Jack was going to have better luck getting Bitty to be a d-man than in getting the team to eat healthy all the time.

* * *

 

The weeks flew by and Eric was loving Samwell. He was meeting so many nice people and his classes were okay, nothing spectacular or anything, but good. He loved baking at the Haus and was pretty sure that the guys loved having him there, or at least they loved his cooking. However, practice didn’t seem to be getting better, it some ways it got worse. 

Eric couldn’t help it, he was still shutting down when he thought he was going to be checked. He knew it was bad, but the rest of his training was okay he thought. But when Jack chewed him out in front of the whole team, for the second time, Eric was starting to feel some not too nice things about their captain. That whole “get with the program or quit!” comment was totally unnecessary. It wasn’t like he wasn’t trying.

“Yo Bitty, Jack just gets real bitchy near the end of every pre-season” Ransom said as they were getting changed after practice when Jack had really torn into him.

“He’ll go back to regularly scheduled levels of bitchy after the first game” Holster added with a snort and a roll of his eyes.

“Hey, when a bro’s dad is Bad Bob, a bro’s gonna turn into a fucking hockey Nazi every once in a while” Shitty said sympathetically.

“Who’s Bad Bob?” Eric asked not quite ready to give Jack any sympathy for how he was acting.

All three of them all turned and looked at Eric and he suddenly felt panicked. The way they looked at him reminded him of when those boys locked him in a supply closet overnight and he started hyper-ventilating.

Shitty gave him a brief run down on the Hockey royalty of the Zimmermann name and how everyone had been watching Jack and comparing him to his dad his whole life. 

“Then the whole draft thing” Holster muttered.

“Bro” Shitty silenced him with a look. “Look Bitty, you can look Jack up and the 2009 draft if you want, but teammates don’t gossip about each other” he gives a look at Holster who turns away while Ransom looks guilty. “But Jack also had to deal with being a 3rd” he tells Eric.

“A 3rd?” Eric mutters thinking it can’t be what he is thinking. 

“Jack’s parents are soulmates and both of his grandparents were also soulmates and that was a big deal when Jack was born. People expect kids of soulmates to be special and the first generation really were. But then you had those kids having kids and the expectations were super high. Jack was one of the first 100 of kids like that which had people talking about him even more. It sucks dude” Shitty shakes his head sadly. “No kid deserves that kind of stress.”

Both Ransom and Holster nod in agreement. Holster’s parents are not soulmates but his sister found hers two years ago so he believes and Ransom has told the story of his parents’ meeting as soulmates more than once. “What about your parents Bits?” Ransom asks curiously. “Were they soulmates?”

“Yes” he nods gently and wonders how they would react if they knew he was a 3rd as well.

* * *

 

Bitty sat on the bench smelling the ice filling his nose and throat as he watched the older players out on the ice during their first game. Jack was in the center with his wingers, Jazz and Robbie, and they were doing great. Ransom and Holster were back near their goal where Johnson was keeping every shot out of his net. Shitty was sitting next to him waiting to switch out with Jazz when needed. Bitty didn’t think he would be playing today but he was ready, though very nervous.

The worst part? He could feel the cold wind against his skin, the cold biting him, even though he was on the bench, it felt like he really was playing even though he was just sitting there. He couldn't believe how different it was being on a college team compared to his old team in Madison. 

The second period started and Dartmouth managed to tie the game at 1-1 when Shitty and Ollie both rotated in to support Jack. Jack normally played a lot but he did get to rest every few minutes as the coaches kept pulling him to rest and mix things up. Jack had scored their first point and Bitty cheered as hard as the rest of the team for their captain. 

It was about halfway through the period when Ollie got checked hard and Coach Hall looked at Eric.

“Bittle, you’re in. Go” he said with a curt nod.

Eric swallowed but jumped up and skated out. He took his position next to Jack and he could tell that Jack was surprised to see him there. The guys from Dartmouth were joking about the ‘midget’ player but he tried to close it out. The next few minutes of play flew by so fast that Eric couldn’t quite remember what had happened. Shitty and Jack were merciless in pushing Dartmouth and the times they managed to get the puck away from Samwell, Ransom and Holster took it back quickly.

All of sudden it was the last minute of the period and Eric was coming down the boards and Eric saw one of Dartmouth’s goons heading right towards him grunting “I’m gonna fuck you up, like the fucking pussy midget fuck you are”….grrr…. “fuck”. Bitty was freaked out at first that this cement wall was going to smash him to a pulp, but he saw an opening and did a spin and all of sudden the guy from Dartmouth smashed himself into the boards and went down while Eric took off like a rocket. The puck was right there!!

Eric caught it and tore for the goal and saw the two d-men coming right at him but just beyond them was Ransom who had gotten into the perfect position while everyone else was behind Eric so he punched the puck right through the d-men and into Ransom’s stick where he one-armed it right into the goal!

All of sudden everyone was yelling and screaming and Bitty had gotten an assist! His first point in college and his team collided with him in a giant hug. Bitty was so excited and shocked. He couldn’t believe that he had done that! He had avoided a check, didn’t collapse, and helped score a point. Maybe he could make it after all. 

He looked over and saw the absolute shock and surprise on Jack’s fast but he also had a slight smile on his face as he called them together. They finished the period at 2-1. The third period was even better. Dartmouth didn’t manage to score again but Ollie and Wicks both did great with Wicks getting an assist on Jack’s second goal of the game for a final score of 3-1.

* * *

 

That night was the first kegster of the semester and according to the bylaws scribbled in the basement with a sharpie, the first frog to score a point does the first kegstand and so Bitty had to do it, though he didn’t really object. He did remember asking about Jack only to hear that their illustrious captain was probably upstairs with some puck bunny. Apparently Jack didn’t like parties or drinking and everyone understood that. After Google-ing Jack, Eric also understood why he would probably avoid alcohol. He ignored the twinge at the thought of the girl who was upstairs with their captain, it certainly wasn't any of his business.

Eric wished he had the good sense to stop after the kegstand. By the time Ollie and Wicks, who had also done a kegstand for his assist, left the Haus for their dorm, Bitty was really feeling his first drunk. He was stumbling and Ollie was left trying to herd two sloshed frogs back to their dorm which wasn’t very easy as Bitty had managed to get Wicks to sing “Crazy in Love” with him as they walked home. 

The worse part of the whole party? The nasty aftertaste of the beer. Bitty would swear it tasted like peanut butter!

* * *

 

Jack woke up on Saturday morning feeling sick. He normally would be out the door before 6am for his run, especially the day after a game, but this morning was not going well. His head was pounding, he could barely swallow his throat was so dry, and he felt something had died on his tongue. He did not have time for the flu right now, but since he didn’t drink last night, it definitely wasn’t a hangover though it felt like one.

He grabbed some aspirin and took them dry before walking downstairs to grab some toast and Gatorade. Stepping around the bodies and trash in the Haus, including several people Jack didn’t recognize passed out in the living room, he grabbed the food and stumbled back to his room and laid down.

* * *

 

By 10 am Jack was feeling much better and got up and dressed and headed to Faber. He wanted to skate if it wasn’t being used by others and luckily the first group wasn’t coming until 1pm. He managed to practice for about two hours before he headed in and saw Coach Murray in his office. He headed over.

“Coach? Can I talk to you?” Jack asked from his office door.

“Sure Jack, come on in” Murray said with a smile. “Great work at the game yesterday. You were really on focus” he said happily.

Jack mumbled his thanks but then took a deep breath. “I wanted to talk with you about Bittle” he said carefully.

Murray leaned back and nodded. “What’s on your mind?” he asked carefully.

“He did good yesterday…but he is still freezing with the checks” Jack finally says. “The spin thing helped him avoid that check, but he almost collapsed on the ice again” Jack said obviously frustrated.

Murray nodded. “I saw it. Coach Hall and I were talking about it. He’s got some amazing skills and lots of potential. He is the fastest kid on the team without question” Murray paused to look at Jack who, after a moment, nodded in agreement.

“And he is skilled at passing. Shooting the puck to Ransom was a truly beautiful shot. His hands are good, some of the softest ones we’ve seen” Murray muses.

Jack frowns because he knows what the coach is saying is true and he can tell that Bittle is trying. He isn’t blind. He can tell how much being on the team means to him and if he was being completely honest, he would even admit that when he got that assist Jack had been almost as excited for him as he probably was. He felt the rush and the thrill of that success as if it was his own for a moment before he remembered that he was still annoyed with him.

“I know, but coach, the checking? He isn’t ready to play on this level” Jack says carefully.

Coach Murray nods and is quiet for a few minutes as he stares at Jack. “You are right Jack” he finally says. “However most new freshmen aren’t ready yet, nor do they score an assist in their very first game. Bittle seems to be a bit of a contradiction don’t you think? He is both ready and not ready for playing at this level. As Captain” and Jack could swear he hears Coach Murray capitalize his title “what do you think needs to be done to rectify this?” he asks.

Jack is about to answer with something about cutting him but he holds back to think like a captain. He has to admit that if it wasn’t for the checking thing, and his general fear of physicality, Bittle would be a good player and in a year, probably a very valuable player. A good captain looks for ways to address his teammates’ weaknesses and play on their strengths. If he thinks back, he has dealt with similar situations in the Q. As captain he had dealt with players with weak areas and Jack had worked with them to deal with it. Just because he hadn’t had to do so in the last two years didn’t mean he wouldn’t face something like that again.

“He needs someone to help him deal with his fear of checking” Jack finally says.

“mhm” Coach Murray hums in agreement but just waits and Jack finally gives up.

“I should do it” Jack finally says in a low voice.

Coach Murray smiles slightly and nods at Jack. “Agreed, and to be honest, we were wondering when you would realize that. Jack you have a future with Hockey, something most of the other guys don’t, you know that as well as I do. And the fact is that you will rise to a leadership role when you play professionally, either the A or even the C. You are a natural leader son. Your team will move mountains for a leader they trust and respect, and even more for one they love. Coaches and GMs are great and we can do a lot, but on the ice, it is just you guys. Consider this training for that day when you are dealing with rookies that are still wet behind the ears” Murray laughs.

Jack smiles and gets up thinking about what the coach said. He knows in his soul that he has the skill to play professionally. His biggest fear is whether anyone will give him that chance or if they think he is too damaged, too much of risk, too much of a distraction to even give him a chance. For the last two summers he has been working hard on his skills and this summer he got to practice with several of his family friends and Jack held his own with the professionals. Uncle Mario even talked to him about coming back to play immediately and it was Jack’s determination to finish at Samwell first as well as his certainty that he hadn't earned that opportunity yet that kept him from trying to go back earlier. He needed this, but he had to be better by the time he was ready to play officially and that means improving in every way.

Walking up to the Haus he realized he had been smelling cinnamon and apples on his walk for some time. How much baking was Bittle doing that he could smell it walking to the Haus from Faber? Jack does knows that the Haus smells better than before, not that he would admit that, but still!

He walks into the kitchen to see Holster and Ransom puttering with the fridge while BIttle looks on nervously. “I swear something is wrong with that thing” Bittle says to them. “I think the ice maker is messed up or something” he blinks as he sees Jack standing there and sure enough Jack can see the apple pie on the table waiting to be eaten.

“What’s going on?” Jack asks the guys.

“Nothing that we can tell bro” Holster says looking stumped. “Bitty thought the freezer was messing up, but as far as we can tell, it looks fine.” Ransom nods in silent agreement.

Jack looks over at Bittle and decides it might as well be now. “Bittle” he says, his voice a bit sharp based on how Bittle jumps “what are you doing tomorrow at 4am?”

Eric pales and looks at the d-men for help but they just sit there. “Uh…sleeping?” he croaks.

“Wrong answer. We have skate practice at Faber. Tomorrow at 4am. I will see you there” Jack says with finality and heads towards the door.

“We have a team practice at 4AM on a Sunday?!” Ransom yells.

Jack stops and looks back with a smirk. “No” he says to the guys. “Just BIttle” he adds after a moment and Eric squeaks.

Eric watches Jack walk out and up the stairs as both Ransom and Holster turn back to look at him with sympathy. “Dude” Holster mutters.

Eric just slumps into a chair. 4AM? Training alone with Jack? What fresh hell is this?!


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of the semester was tough for Bitty. First he had to endure the checking clinics with Jack at ungodly hours but after the first few he found that he did appreciate that Jack was willing to spend that time with him. He had gotten better and though he still tensed up, he didn’t collapse anymore. He would even say that Jack was getting proud of him, at least until the Yale game during Family Weekend.

Bitty had been nervous about his mama coming up to visit him, and although he was disappointed that Coach couldn’t come, he was also a bit relieved as he wasn’t sure he was up to the pressure of his father being there. And it was a night of very mixed feelings.

It had been in the third period, the game tied, when Coach had sent in Shitty, Wicks, and Bitty’s line to play. Bitty had been apprehensive about it, Yale was playing a very physical game and he knew they were targeting the Samwell players, but he remembered what Jack had taught him and focused.

He was right behind Shitty when number 18 checked Shitty into the boards. Wicks collided with them and managed to send the puck out of the tangle and right into Bitty’s tape and he realized that he was completely open. No one had been watching or covering him, focused on the other guys on his team. Bitty tore across the ice as fast as he could and he knew that they couldn’t catch him. The Yale D-men were out of position and it was just him and the goalie.

They were closing in on Bitty from all sides when he heard his teammates screaming “Bitty Shoot” and Eric aimed, took a quick breath, and shot with all his might, his eyes closing at the end, at the goal. He heard the siren go off and opened his eyes to see the stunned looks on everyone’s faces and the flashing lights as the scoreboard moved from 2-2 to 3-2 as Samwell took the lead. Bitty stood there, holding his stick in surprise, as he heard the crowd right behind him cheering and screaming.

Seconds later, his teammates had crashed into him for the celly and he found he couldn’t stop smiling. He tried to look for his mama but he couldn’t remember where she was sitting for the life of him before he ended up back at the bench for more congratulations. Samwell was able to hold Yale till the end of the period giving them a triumphant win.

After the game he went to see his mama who was so proud she was bursting. She had taken several pictures when all of a sudden Jack and his dad came up to say hi and he saw his mama blushing furiously meeting Jack’s dad and Jack. Mr. Zimmermann was really nice and encouraging though Jack seemed unhappy about something though Eric didn’t know what about. He showered and was walking out when he saw Jack leaving and he went after him.

“Hey Jack! Wait up! I’m so glad I caught you” Eric said. “’Cause, um. I just wanted to say good game. And thank…”

“Bittle” Jack’s voice was broken and Eric could hear the emotion in it “It was a lucky shot.”

Eric stood there watching Jack walk away, his stomach heavy and feeling like he had been punched. He felt a wave of anger, frustration, and mostly shame that felt like it was crushing him. It was like he had failed at something so important somehow and he just didn’t understand why he felt so tore up.

Things were strained for a while after that and while Eric had tried to avoid encountering Jack as much as possible, it seemed to be mutual with Jack avoiding him as well. After about two weeks it seemed that things were back to normal. Now his biggest issue was dealing with Ransom and Holster who were trying to set him up for Winter Screw. With a girl.

They were determined to set him up since they had done Jack and tried to do Shitty, but Eric had been avoiding them whenever he could. “Dude, this cafeteria food just tastes so strange” Shitty says at their team breakfast. “I swear it seems that everything I eat lately tastes weird. Like these eggs? I swear they taste like beans!” he complained.

Everyone was laughing but Eric remembered a few days earlier when Shitty had commented that both his pie and the coffee had tasted funny. “Maybe it’s your soulmate?” Eric offered carefully.

Shitty looked over at him in surprise. “What?” he asked and Eric noticed that several others had turned to listen in on their conversation.

“Well” Bitty said nervously “maybe you are tasting what your soulmate is eating. You know? Sharing the sense of taste” he explains.

Shitty looked totally confused but then he just shook his head sadly. “That can’t be it Bits” he says sadly. “I don’t have a soulmate yet. I mean I haven’t met them yet. I certainly would know if we had met” he adds with a slightly condescending tone.

“Not always” Bitty says with a little more authority. “I mean one of my Moomaw’s friends, back when she was young, she knew her soulmate for three years before either one of them realized that they were soulmates.”

“Three years?” Shitty’s eyes widen. 

“Yeah” Ransom adds from the other side. “My cousin’s best friend knew his soulmate for over two years before they figured it out. It’s not always immediate bro.”

“I hadn’t heard of that before. I mean, I had heard that some people say they didn’t know immediately…but I always assumed they were either resisting it or just not paying attention” Shitty muttered 

“No” Eric said clearly “it can take time. Moomaw’s friend said that they had gotten glimpses or short connections during those three years, but they were too small to notice. They only realized it after it became too much to ignore anymore” Eric said with a sigh.

“Worrying about soulmates is exhausting” Wicks says with a sigh that gets a number of heads nodding in agreement. They know that many people in college meet their soulmates there and even though it isn’t guaranteed, everyone does wonder. 

Shitty looked thoughtful for the rest of breakfast.

* * *

 

The start of spring semester saw the return of the team’s manager, Lardo, who turned out not to be a giant white guy bro like Eric had expected, but a short girl, slightly punk, who turned out to be an art major who could out-bro any guy on the team.

She had been in Kenya last semester and she showed up at the Haus while Bitty was baking, looking for Shitty. “Oh my goodness” Bitty said when he first saw her standing in the doorway. “No, I haven’t seen him. But, oh, should I text him. Do you have his number?” Eric had offered.

“Nope. He just said he would be around today” she replied. She started talking about turning Betsy into scrap when Shitty yelled “LARDO” from the hallway and nearly tackled her in a giant hug.

They hugged like a celly on the ice and traded insults but when Jack said hi, she was a lot softer and easier. “You must be Bitty” she finally said. “Shits told me all about you baking pies on Skype and I have to confess they sound pretty amazing. Can’t wait to try them” she says before her eyes narrow when she looks over at Shitty.

“First though, brah” Lardo says looking at Shitty with an unreadable expression “we need to seriously talk about all the drinking and smoking you did last semester. I mean, seriously, you are doing it way too often” she says with a sudden smirk.

“What!” Shitty looks offended. “I will have you know that I drink and smoke the exact right amount! No less, sometimes more” he adds solemnly. “Besides, how do you even know about that?” He looks over at Jack suspiciously but Jack throws up his hands in the universal sign of “I’m innocent!”

“Let’s see. There was the time I got drunk sitting on a bus to a nature preserve, almost getting sent home by the school because our prof thought that I was smuggling dope because I kept high at random times?” she asks with an arched eyebrow. Shitty looks thoroughly confused. Lardo rolls her eyes and moves to the table where Bitty has just sat down a fresh baked pie.

“I’m totally confused” Shitty says looking between her and Jack. “What…” he trails off looking lost.

“It would seem” Lardo says carefully lifting a bite of the apple caramel pie that Eric gave her “that I get a contact buzz when you drink or smoke Shits. It’s really inconvenient. And have you been experiencing anything…unusual?” she asks casually.

Shitty still looks confused but just shakes his head in denial but Bitty suddenly clears his throat. “Shitty” he says tentatively “remember how you were tasting strange flavors all semester whenever you ate or drank?” he reminds the older man.

Shitty frowns for another minute while he puts all the pieces together, the other three just watching and exchanging knowing glances. When his eyes finally widen and he busts out in a deliriously happy smile as he turns to the calm girl eating pie “You’re my soulmate?” he whispers.

“Obviously brah” Lardo rolls her eyes at him but Bitty can see the barest hint of a smile. “Kind of slow for someone so smart” she adds with a wink for Jack who is trying to hold in a laugh.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Sorry everyone for the delay and the short chapter. Working on another writing project but wanted to get this chapter out. This chapter is more about moving our calendar along without any reveals and showing Larissa & B.Knight's soul bond as being one of the slow ones as a teaser for Jack and BItty's. Enjoy. There is more to come! _


End file.
